After several Crypto.com users alleged their funds had been stolen, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek confirmed the hack in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Without providing many details, he confirmed that around 400 customer accounts have been compromised. The hack wiped Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies from several customers’ accounts.
This was the first acknowledgment by Crypto.com about the hack. Soon after the company faced the hack, it paused withdrawals on its platform. After 13-14 hours of the incident, the platform is now back again. The company also claims that customer funds were safe and the company will cover any customer losses incurred. They are still investigating the issue and promised to provide a detailed report in the next couple of days.
Blockchain security provider PeckShield estimated that losses may amount to $15 million worth of ETH. Stolen ETH were sent to Tornado Cash. Tornado Cash is a cryptocurrency privacy tool that hides the final destination making it easy to hide the crime.
The @cryptocom loss is about $15M with at least 4.6K ETHs and half of them are currently being washed via @TornadoCash https://t.co/PUl6IrB3cp https://t.co/6SVKvk8PLf pic.twitter.com/XN9nmT857j
— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) January 18, 2022
OXT Research claims that the hack may actually have cost the exchange $33 million.
The Crypto.com exchange is really popular and is known for several prominent sponsorship deals with sports teams. It has inked deals with the UFC fight league, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team, the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, and Australian Football League. This hack will surely hurt the company’s reputation.
After the surge in cryptocurrencies, exchanges are now the primary target of cybercriminals. More than 20 exchanges were hacked last year and hackers managed to steal millions in cryptocurrencies. Now when users’ interest in cryptocurrencies increases, exchanges must think about security seriously before it is too late.
